Splash guard for vehicle wheels



g- 1930- v I A. SCHNEIDER. 1,774,242

SPLASH GUARD FOR VEHICLE WHEELS Filed July 20. 1928 JNVENTOR Patented Aug. 26, 1930 Q a a 1,774,242

' UNITED STATES HPATENTIOFFECEII v Application filedJuly 20, 1928, Serial No. 294,121, and. in Germany August 13, .1927.

This invention relates to a splash guard whereby it is rotatably mounted on the ballforlvehicle wheels and of the kind compris bearing element so as to be capable of deflecing flat defiectable brushes supported at the tion in a plane parallel to the wheel. {The side of the wheel near the ground and conbrush 28 is connected to an arm 26 which trolled by springs allowing them to yield to telescopes in-the same manner within asleeve I obstructions. v I 25 and which is controlled by a spring 29.

The main object of the invention is to pro- The sleeve 25 is pivoted toone end of a bar 23 Y vide means for protecting the brushes from the opposite end oi whichis pivoted at Ql damage on bumpy roads, and the invention to the free, forwardly directed end portion consists in this respect in connecting the of the casing. A spring 31 1naintains the 1 brushes pivotally to a casing which is supsleeve 25 normally in alignment with the bar ported on and'adapted to be deflected about 23 and the latter is connected by a link 22 the wheel hub and which is connected to the to an arm 21 on the sleeve 16 so that rocking vehicle body so as to be deflected by the latmovement willbe imparted from one brush t er for raising. the front brush from its norholder to the other on contact with 'obstruc 5 mal position whenever the wheel receives an tions. A spring 30' connected at one end to upright thrust. the casing and at the other end to an arm 21 V Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings repon the ring 15 "holdsboth brushes normally resents a side view of the device with the casin their :Eorwardend,position, and the rearing cover removed ward deflection is'limited by a rubber buffer 70 Fig. 2-, a top view of the device, and 38 arranged as a stop for the sleeve 16. I Fig. 3, a bottom View of the casing, The lower side 0f the casing is Slotted OI The preferred form of the device comopen to admit the brush holders whichmain- I prises a flat, elongated casing 1 which ries tain the brushes atthe side of the wheel rim ,1; one d b means f a h lhh in 14, a 1 near the ground, indifferent planes and par- 75 revolvable, projecting boss 3. The casing is allel to the wheel. The slotted or open side mounted by m ans 1? th b 3 on th h b of the casing is protected by "brushes SZ-and of the vehicle wheel and is maintained ina 33 W i h r g inst the brush holders, as horizontal position by means of a stay 11 one shown in Fig. 3, and prevent mud from ennd of hi h i pivoted t b k t 12 on teringthe casing. The outer side of the cas- 80 the mud-guard 10 while the other end 9 is ing is, closed by a cover'2 whichcan be reloosely guided in an eyelet 13 on thecasing moved for cleaning and for lubrication. The and connected to the latter through the mebell-bearing 14 is lubrieetefil y,, eans Of it dium of a spring 8 and a cord6. The cord, grease-cup 3 1. I I

which is supported by a deflecting roll 5 The brushes intercept the side splash pro- 85 mounted in an arm 4 on the casing; is secured d-llced y the Wheel and yield resilientlyin'opat 7 to the free end portion of the casing'while positi n 0 the springs 18, 29, 30 and 31 on the guide eyelet 13 is situated at the opposite Contact h O tru tions. If the Wheel enside of the boss 3. The effect of this arrangetBIS it pr ssi n in the road-way, the ensuing n; i that th a in ill h k d on th downward displacement of the sprung ve- 9e hub when the spring-supported body of th hicle body, including the mud-guard lOQrelavehicle is displaced relative to the wheel. tive to the W eel, Will e transmitted by the The actual splash guard is composed of y 11 t0 thewcasing 1 the forward end of two fiat-brushes 20 nd 28 mad up f kid which will be raised together with the brush ha d lat 19 d 27 t th edges f hi h 28 so that the latter can clear the ridge at the 5 radially arranged bristles are attached. The pp i e id Of the depression. I brush 20 is secured to a holder in the form efiici ncy 0f the device may be inof an arm 17 which telescopes within a sleeve creased by the provision on the brush plates 16 and wh1ch is controlled in the latter by of flaps 36 which are hingedly arranged on a spring 18. The sleeve 16 carries a ring 15 horizontal rods 35 and formed with gills '37 m0 adapted to raise the flaps about the hinges under the influence of the water-pressure when the wheel passes through a puddle.

In mounting the device on the front wheels, care must be taken that the stays 11 are spaced sufiiciently from the Wheels to enable the latter to be deflected for steering.

Instead of supporting the casing 1 on the wheel hub a supporting shackle may be provided which embracesthe wheel and is secured behind the latter to the wheel aXle.

I claim:

1. A splash guard for the wheels of a Vehicle having sprung bodies, comprising a flat, elongated casing, a boss carried rotatably at one end of the casing and adapted to support the latter on the hub of the vehicle wheel, a

strut pivoted to the vehicle body and connected resiliently to the casing so as to maintain the latter normally in a horizontal, forwardly-projecting position and so as to raise the front end of the casing on the wheel being upwardly displaced relative to the vehicle body, a pair of telescopic, axially compressible, spring-controlled arms pivoted inside the casing and projecting downwards from opposite ends thereof, the casing being provided with slots wherein the arms are guided and allowed to be deflected in planes parallel to the wheel, brushes connected to the free ends of the arms so as to be maintained by the latter at the side of the wheel ring near the ground, a link connecting the two arms so as to impart rocking'motion from one to another on contact with obstructions, and springs maintaining the arms normally in their forward end position.

2. A structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the brushes consist of kidney-shaped plates and bristles arranged radially about the edges of said plates.

3. The structure claimed in claim 1 in combination with brushes arranged in the slots in the casing so as to bear against the arms and form a closure round the latter.

4. The structure claimed in claim 1 incomvbination with plates suspended from horizontal hinges on the outside of the brushes and formed with gills adapted to raise the plates aboutthe hinges when passing through water. a

- ARNO SCHNEIDER. 

